The Cinemark 22, in Lancaster, experienced a new low in movie going decorum recently.
From the Associated Press:
LANCASTER, Calif. — Authorities say a man was stabbed in the neck with a meat thermometer after asking a woman to silence her cell phone during a screening of the film “Shutter Island” at a Southern California movie theater.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore says the stabbing happened Feb. 27 during a screening of the Martin Scorsese film in Lancaster. He says the two suspects remain at large.
Whitmore says the victim had complained about a woman sitting nearby who was talking on her phone during the movie. He says the woman left with two men, but the men returned minutes later and stabbed the victim in the neck.
Two other people in the theater came to the victim’s aid and also were hurt. The man was hospitalized with serious injuries.
The sheriff’s office says it knew the weapon used was a meat thermometer because the suspects left it behind. No further details were released.
This incident brings to mind Orange County’s own theatre stabbing, at the AMC Fullerton 20. Back in 2008, a deranged man stabbed several Fullerton theatre patrons, during a screening of the horror film “The Signal”. The assailant, who had a history of mental illness, was later caught and charged with the crime.
Sadly, while the Fullerton stabbing can be written off as a random and unavoidable crime, committed by a mentally unstable individual, the Lancaster incident speaks volumes about the current state of movie theatre behavior. An extreme example of inconsiderate theatre patrons, but a growing problem, none the less.
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